On 5th June Berlin-based coldwave and post-punk label, Mannequin Records is reissuing a piping-hot European New-Beat hit, Techno Bert’s ‘Neue Dimensionen’. Starting out in 2008 with Italian Alessandro Adriani at the helm, Mannequin has been consistently delivering a lively output of obscure synth music covering all sorts of moods. As well as offering future classics, the label keeps an integral ethos of uncovering fantastic forgotten gems; check out their Danza Mechanic Italian Synth Wave compilations and the recent double vinyl Orphx Archive 1993/94 release.
‘Neue Dimensionen’ was originally released on the Italian label, Doremix Records in 1990, a sub-label of the early Italian techno label, M.C.E. Records, which was co-run by one half of Techno Bert, Stefano Cundari, who also co-owned Memory Records. Accompanied then by Robert Passera, the two sadly only worked together for this sole project, but created a dance-floor wonder in the process. The track is made up of a whole array of samples, primarily based on the guitar riff from Siouxsie and the Banshees’ ‘Happy House’, but then assembled with drums from The Human League’s ‘Being Boiled’ and a mind-melting distortion of Nina Hagen’s vocal from, ‘Herrmann Hieß Er’ - all crafted with the use of the classic Akai S1000 sampler, a Jupiter synth, a Roland TB-303 and the TR-909. Mannequin describes the track’s creation mentioning that, “While Cundari cared for the sounds from the 48-channel analogue bench and assigned modular effects to the tracks, in studio there was also the musician Stefano Carrara who piloted the keyboards and the Notator installed on the Atari computer.” Stefano Cundari unfortunately died of cancer the same year the EP was released.
The track has an incredibly energetic aura made up of heavy-synth stabs; something like spacey Italo vibes meet a coldwave edge. The funky guitar riff, the electric vocal and slithery hi-hats make it an efficacious beat-driven dance-floor weapon, and the prolonged crescendo keeps this a very positive party track.
Buy: Vinyl
Words by Fred D